Daphne Machiri
MUTOKO: While Zimbabwe’s contraceptive use is said to have risen and the unmet need for family planning reducing, young women in Mutoko are otherwise feeling the pinch appealing for short term contraceptive methods such as the control pills to use as they have endured more than one and half months without them.
Through the capacitation and skills building learnt under the ActionAid Zimbabwe ‘s Partnership for Social Accountability Project (PSA) which is being implemented through Disaster Environment Management Trust’s (DEMT) on sexual reproductive health rights (SRHR) and health governance, young women have managed to hold the Mutoko rural district council to account to make sure that they provide family planning pills.
“As much as we are pushing council to make provision of accessible and affordable short term family planning pills, we have managed to purchase these from our garden proceeds.
“The push however comes because we want our garden proceeds to sustain our families and community livelihoods because the time we seek things as family planning pills from private players, it is more expensive as compared to getting such from government or municipal services,” said one PSA project beneficiary, Talent Humanikwa.
“It has been one and half months now without subsidized contraception and as a result, we are at risk of unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases because men will not prefer taking contraception in a marriage,” she added.
Regardless the challenge, Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council (ZNFPC) Chitekwe Youth friendly Center Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health (ASRH) officer Joyce Karidza commended that there has been a great improvement in contraceptive uptake among the youth.
“Challenges may image but I would like also to say that we are happy with the increase of youth taking contraceptive, a move we think will reduce teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.
“We also encourage people to alternatively use long term contraception methods in times of such shortages as they equally help curb unplanned pregnancies,” Karidza said.
Methods of family planning are classified into three broad categories namely short-term, long-term and permanent methods.
Under short-term methods are contraceptive pills, injectable, condoms and fertility awareness-based methods.
